Runaway
by NYANCAT56
Summary: 26 year old Hermione is fed up with her dull friends, boring job and perfect life. So when a lonely snatcher from the past steps into her life, promising an adventure, full of drama, excitement and romance, Hermione gladly accepts. But will the price be too high?
1. Chapter 1

**My first central Scabior/Hermione story- rated M for violence and language.**

* * *

Hermione sighed, glancing at her watch.

It only read 7:15.

It was early in the evening, at Harry and Ginny's latest birth shower for their third child. They were currently stuck in the Burrow, Molly slaving around the kitchen baking, whilst the ten or so guests sat daintily in the sitting room. Most of the Weasley clan had stopped bothering to appear at these trivial events once Albus was on his way.

Ginny was still quite popular in the Wizarding community, and all of her friends were surrounding the vicinity.

Hermione had obediently bought a magical mobile for the child, but privately she wished she was back at home; actually, anywhere, apart from here. Ginny had slowly, over the years, let her coldness shine through for Hermione. Harry noticed, but was too wrapped up in his worship for his wife, and mother of his children.

As they spoke, James Sirius Potter ransacked Hermione' handbag before smearing her lipstick all over Albus, giggling in his highchair. The younger child dribbled, pale pink sludge creeping down his fat chin.

"Harry!" Hermione sighed, lifting James up.

Harry shrugged, lifting his son out of harm's way, before plonking his way down beside his wife. Many of the guests giggled and ahh'd at James' cheekiness upon Hermione's belongings.

_Really, _Hermione thought. _The child is old enough to know better._

Ginny noticed Hermione's downcast smile.

"Cheer up, Hermione!" Ginny smiled. "The sprog's just a kid, after all. Don't worry- I'm sure you and my misery of a brother will be enjoying this- "She pointed at Albus, his hands rubbing the dirt around his face on his clean bib, "-Pretty soon!"

The guests around the group immediately began chattering.

"Ginny," Hermione said, her voice steely, "You _KNOW_ that me and Ron spilt two days ago."

Ginny giggled happily, the only hint of her comment in the glint in her green eyes. "Sorry, Herms! Pregnancy hormones and that."

Harry immediately smiled his dopey grin at her and stroked her large baby bump.

Hermione could already feel the pointed glances of Lavender Brown, the Daily Prophet's new leading Journalist, digging into her back as she rummaged in her large bag for a quill and paper.

Ginny's eyes probed into Hermione, not quite done tossing her around like a piece of prey.

"Have you got a new leading man in your life by now Hermione? I mean, when you were dating Harry on your hunt for the Horcruxes you moved on from him pretty quickly with Ron- maybe you can find another to latch on to?" Her voice was sugary sweet as she spoke into Harry's side.

For the umpteenth time that night, Hermione sighed loudly.

"Ginny, I did not date Harry. There was no one who catched my eye as I had the word "mud blood" carved into my wrist- as I had to help bury my greatest friends- As I had to help pick up the Wizarding World."

A flash of red and ice blue eyes flashed into Hermione's mind. The words "_You're going to be my favourite," were_ whispered into her ears.

A flicker of leather and a warm accent.

Shaking her head violently, Hermione continued her tirade- her temper lost, she decided to deliver some hometruths.

"What happened to you, Ginny? You were young, talented, the world at your feet. You could have done anything you wanted, yet you decided to have three brats before you turn thirty. Well, you won't catch that happening to me. I'm going to go find some adventure."

Ignoring the shocked gasps and glaring eyes, Hermione grabbed her coat on the chair at the Burrow, before striding out of the tiny house. Harry could be heard making excuses for her behaviour as she found a clear spot.

Apparating, in the midst of a quiet street in central London, Hermione looked around her. There was something, not quite right about the small street so eerily empty.

The street was dull, and foggy. A lone cafe stood in the street, a buzzing noise flickering from the dull light.

She trembled, before pulling herself together and striding forward in her scarlet coat, wand outstretched.

Loud, careless footsteps sounded behind her- she whipped around, coming face to face to the one person she thought was dead.

"'Ello, beautiful. Long time no see."


	2. Chapter 2

_**1998.**_

* * *

" '_Ello, beautiful."_

_Hermione turned around slowly, foliage crackling underneath her feet. She had only stepped out for a breath of fresh air, away from Harry and Ron squabbling over the locket for the hundredth time that day._

_She thought she had stayed inside the protections and charms that granted secrecy for the trio, but the need to run and jump and simply breathe had overtaken her. She had snuck down to a small alcove near a stream to relax, away from the pressures of being the solution for the Wizarding world. Even now, the sky was turning cloudy from Dementors and all matter of curses. _

_But now, a man stared at Hermione, his eyes dark, a wand outstretched at the terrified girl._

"_What do you want?" she asked bravely, holding her wand in case of a fight. _

_The man, rugged, shadow dusting his cheeks, simply sat down next to a rock, placing his hands behind his head._

"_Nuffin'. Stayin' outa' the way from a nasty fight down the road." _

_Slowly, Hermione sat down warily, knees up to her chest. _

"_Are you pureblood? And what's your name?" _

"_What's wit' all the questions?"_

"_In case you forgot, no one can trust anyone these days."_

_The man pulled out a crumpled cigarette, lit it with his wand, before sticking it back into the tangled mess of his hair._

"_Dunno. Me' mam's pureblood but me' dad cleared off before I was born. Why?"_

_Hermione looked at him incredulously. _

"_Well, it's not often that a random stranger decides to plonk himself down next to me and light up in the middle of a forest. Obviously I'm going to be curious, seeing as we're in a war."_

"_I 'ain't a stranger, sweetheart. Me' name's Scabior."_

"_I'm...Mione."_

_Scabior immediately sat up straighter, causing Hermione to back away slightly. _

_The girl was THE Hermione Granger, second wanted by the ministry?_

"_Y'know, 'Mione," Scabior said casually, taking a long drag of his cigarette, "My job at the moment is to catch mudblood's and blood traitors in England, and sell them to the Ministry. Make a fair bit a' bob too. So when- "Scabior flicked his cigarette away and brought his wand out, casting a few charms around the area, "You say your name is Mione...and you look mighty like that ol' Hermione Granger... even more exquisite then your poster says... I'm inclined to believe I could sell you for some twenty thousand galleons."_

_Hermione stood up suddenly, realising, and tried to run from the area, before hitting the charm's Scabior cast and bouncing back harmlessly. Tears of frustration seeped from her eyes._

_Scabior also stood, pinning his ice blue eyes upon his prey._

"_Of course," he purred, gliding over to Hermione in his boots and long leather coat, "I COULD receive some sort of...Other payment. A kiss, maybe?"_

_Hermione snarled, looking wistfully at her wand, which lay deserted near the stream. Scabior noticed her glaring into the grass, and quickly spun her round on the spot. He leaned in close, staring at her with his large, ice blue eyes. _

_Hermione gulped, before standing close to Scabior. She rested her hands behind his neck, leaning on her tiptoes to reach his lips._

"_You're a sick, evil, gruesome, man." She murmured, feeling his hands close around her waist._

_He lowered his face._

"_Don't act like you don't love it, darlin'."_

_And their lips met._


	3. Chapter 3

**Ahah, your reviews mean a lot to me, but Chepseh really made me laugh. I spent an extra hour on this chapter as I needed to have a clever plot point for the early intor for Scabior, in her own words :)**

* * *

But there was no one there.

An advert, a flimsy piece of paper encrusted on a slimy billboard, showed an actor, bearing a resemblance to Scabior grinning down upon the viewer. Darkness shone around Hermione, which simply highlighted the actor's cheery blue eyes, so like her Snatcher's.

She looked around wildly, wishing, hoping, that she had been mistaken; that Scabior was hiding behind a bin, bound to show, flash her that cheeky grin and sweep her into a hug...

But there was lone silence.

"_Catch ya' later, beautiful."_

As Hermione quickly ran back home, silent tears flitted down her cheeks.

Was she admitting to herself that she had been in love with Scabior?

The thought chilled her to the bones.

* * *

Hermione groaned, before heading swiftly to the bathroom to hurl up the dredges of her chicken korma and bottle of wine.

She scrubbed her mouth furiously with her toothbrush, before sliding into her work clothes and tiptoeing out the door, lest she disturbed the twitched hangover that held power over her.

Sighing, she apparated directly to the Ministry, choosing to pass the option of sticking her legs in a toilet bowl. She barely noticed a shadow watching her, a hint of blue flashing into the darkness.

Sighing, which was her chosen activity most of these days; she quickly stepped around the interns gawping at her, and the members of the Ministry who wanted her opinion of the events of the day. Even eight years after the war, she was still seen as a heroine, offered jobs from all over the country.

It was funny, that. People like Hermione herself, and Harry got the fame, the money, whilst Severus Snape, the most influential man in the war, lay shut in his house, bedbound. An Order of Merlin, third class, was the only thing worth anything in his hovel.

A blaring whistle and a bright flash told her someone had taken a picture of her, yet again.

Finally, being squished in a lift, and heralded off for a word with the Minister, she settled down in her cubicle to work on the latest problems facing the Creatures of the Magical World.

A dank, rather ugly office, it held her basic needs to heart. A plain desk, and a small chair, sitting next to a filing cabinet holding all of her most precious items.

Dank wallpaper, coloured thinly, was owner of many stains created by the Potter brats.

Getting back to her work, Hermione unveiled the new paperwork loading onto her by the other members of her Department.

A sheet labelled "EXECUTION NOTICES" was quickly denied by Hermione; she paused longingly at the Kneazle's breeding program shortlist, before writing off a slip banning all capture of the Merpeople.

She could still remember their singing the day Dumbledore died.

Their terrified screams when the bridge collapsed upon their homes, littering their air with dead snatchers, _her _snatcher.

A lone tear drifted down Hermione's cheek.

* * *

Lunch was a tedious affair; grabbing a sandwich, Hermione only tossed it around, revolted by its curled edges and slimy texture, and threw it in the bin.

She was awoken from her stupor by a loud beeping; her floo network had a visitor- smiling, she opened it.

Harry, holding James in one hand and a bag in the other, stepped through, blowing ashy soot off of his shoulders.

He set down James, before plonking himself in one of Hermione's hardback chairs.

"What do you want, Harry?" Hermione spoke wearily, keeping one eye on James' slow trek to her filing cabinet.

"I wanted to apologise for Ginny's behaviour last night. She was quite rude, and," Harry pinched his nose, "I should have said something sooner."

Hermione relaxed a tiny bit, leaning back into her chair and smiling cautiously at Harry.

"You shouldn't have to apologise, Harry. But what happened when I left?"

"Ron made an appearance. He kept flirting with Luna."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, before she noticed what James was doing.

He was holding a few of her pictures in his hands, tearing them apart; he held the only one she had of Scabior in his grubby mitts.

"NO!" Hermione shouted, leaping out of her chair and snatching the picture out of the child's hands. Yelling, the child held fast, until the picture ripped in two.

Harry grinned at James, hitching his glasses up.

"Its fine, Hermione. Just give them to me and-"  
He looked at the picture more closely, scowling in disbelieve.

"Who the hell is that, Hermione?" Harry spoke calmly, his twitching eye the only source of his anger.

"It's no one." Hermione cradled the picture to her chest. The picture was her favourite, Scabior dangling his legs in a stream, leaning back in the middle of a laugh at something she had said, about two months after they first met.

She could still remember the dappled leaves casting their shine on the couple, a slight breeze tangling their hair, waves lapping at the grass they lay upon.

But back to the dank office, stale anger filling the silence.

"Thinking about it, no wonder you always snuck off when me and Ron weren't paying attention. You were meeting this git, probably telling him everything we knew! You traitorous bitch! I and Ron took you in, and this is how you repay us? Falling in love with a low life, slimy bastard like this one? The one that kills your kind for fun! Well," Harry gathered his child together, and stepped into the Floo, "I wish you had died with him on that bridge too."


	4. Chapter 4

"I wish you had died with him on that bridge too."

With a sooty gasp in the air, Hermione's floo was empty.

She sat back down, listlessly, in her chair, mulling over the words that had just been spoken to her.

When she thought about it, what did Hermione have in her life?

"I'm single, my parents are dead, childless, with no friends and the only man I ever cared about dead. Well," Hermione stood up and grabbed her coat and bag, " I better do something about it, Harry."

She apparated out of her small cubicle, all sorts of made and foolish thoughts running through her head.

* * *

_**2003**_

_Hermione giggled, sliding down the bar in her scarlet dress, holding a tray full of ripe shots. She carried them, through the throng of magical people in the small club, to her laughing friends waiting for her._

_Back then, Ginny was still on good terms with Hermione, and most of her family had showed up to enjoy Hermione's birthday. Ron had made an appearance too, though his suggestive glances with the brunette in the booth next to the group did nothing to quell Hermione's burgeoning fears about her man._

_The club was decorated with glittering silver, darkening in light of the blaring music appearing in the dance floor. Harry quickly pulled up his drunk fiancé and leapt out to the dance floor, followed by George and Luna. Left at the table, to down the shots and lemon, were Ron and Hermione._

_Hermione giggled, before seating herself down in Ron's lap. He smiled, intent on the moment for his girlfriend. _

"'_Dis is soo much fun!" Hermione slurred, her eyes glazed over. _

_Ron rolled his brown eyes patronisingly._

"_You're drunk, Hermione." Although, Ron had a cheek; he had already downed three beers, and was hoping for some dutch courage to approach the pretty girl in the corner._

_Ron yelled over to their mates, "I'm taking Hermione home, guys!" Harry nodded, carrying Ginny in his arms._

_The two couples apparated, Ron dropping Hermione about two miles from her house._

"_Bye, 'Mione," He mumbled._

_Hermione looked at him beseechingly. _

"_Ron! Come on, let's have some fun!" Hermione laughed. "Less just...Be free! Like... a bird! Remember when we did that when we were kids?"_

_Ron shook his head and apparated away._

_Left alone in the darkness, lit by the aged streetlamps, Hermione kicked her shoes off and skipped to the park near her, flopping down on the dew lit grass, stretching her legs out._

"_That doof your' boyfriend, beau'ful?" a hooded stranger asked her some way away._

_Hermione looked over, and nodded, swaying slightly._

"_Yeah."_

_The stranger leant her his arm, and they proceeded down the road. A small part of Hermione was berating her for walking with a stranger, but she simply laughed it off._

_As they walked closer to her door, she started talking to the man,_

"_You know," Hermione slurred, "I was in love with a man, and he was my...WORLD." She emphasised the last word, and poked the stranger in the chest. "But he died, and i got stuck with that fat lump n'all my mates. So no wonder I got drunk!" _

_The stranger laughed, and opened her door with his wand._

"_G'night beau'ful." As Hermione leant into her door and shut it behind her, the stranger stayed for another couple of minutes, looking over the house with his ice blue eyes._


End file.
